In traditional printing environments, users send print jobs from computers, phones, tablets, etc. direct to imaging devices for printing and hard-copy pick up. In print release environments, print servers hold print jobs until later claiming by users at one of many networked imaging devices, e.g., printers, copiers, fax machines, etc. The servers not only hold print jobs from access until users authenticate themselves, but they track printing habits and enforce compliance of policy. The technique holds users accountable for imaging projects, including size, cost, quotas, etc. and prevents accidental release of hard copies to others. Managed print services (MPS) is but one popular form of print release implementation.
In an open computing concept in modern offices, users have no individual computing device dedicated to their needs and no practical way to be associated with imaging quotas. Rather, users are free to travel within offices, amongst floors, around campus, etc. and can use any computing device at their disposal. For such users it is difficult, if not impossible, for organizations to track printing habits and enforce policies. Yet, many organizations would still like a mechanism to bring users of this type under their control. Similarly, smaller organizations without servers would also like a mechanism to bring about policy control, but without incurring the costs associated with relatively expensive print-release infrastructure. As it stands, organizations can expect to purchase dozens, hundreds or thousands of print servers when executing a print release strategy for their employees, including further costs to maintain and update the servers. What is needed is a solution to enforce policy on users in a print-release manner, but without the human and capital costs associated with servers. The need extends to implementation in both small office environments and modern open concepts. Devising solutions will also add further advantages.
For example, upon a user printing a document in a traditional print release environment, the print job is spooled from the user's computer to a print server where it is cached. As many other users also have their print jobs cached at a proximate time, at the same place, the print server represents a source of failure that singularly affects many print jobs and can disproportionately disrupt productivity of many users at any given time. Also, as users claim their jobs from myriads of imaging devices connected to the print server, high volumes of network traffic can exist simultaneously and server loading of multiple imaging jobs at any given time makes possible large patterns of network traffic that can slow processing to individual users. What is needed is a solution that decentralizes the risk of failure in lieu of more even-handed distribution and minimizes potential bottlenecks of network traffic. That the subject matter imaged on media by imaging devices may implicate sensitive, confidential or secret information, any solutions should further contemplate high security for imaging and uses of encryption/decryption. Additional benefits and alternatives are also sought when devising solutions.